Altering Destiny
by Lady1Venus
Summary: With a massive catastrophe, killing many, someone from the future takes an S-Class suicide mission to the past on the goal of altering the future by going back to Naruto's birth, preventing Minato from dying only to send him to the future to help stop the Fourth Shinobi War from happening. Will the tragic future be diverted in time? MinatoXoc. NarutoXHinata. SakuraXSasuke. SaiXoc
1. Prologue

_Author's Notes: Be prepared for some weird ass changes as well some possible spoilers (for those who haven't gotten far in the show/manga). This partly follows the series mostly up until the defeat of Pein after that things will be different. The idea of this came from when I saw the episode where Minato and Naruto get to meet for the first time, even though Minato was only an after image of his former self. It was such a bittersweet reunion that I just couldn't leave it alone. When I've started writing this, I hadn't watched much past the Kage summit. I had to watch eps 248 and 249 in subs (not a fan of watching subs because of not being able to watch and read at the same time. I miss a lot of information that's happening)_

_Pairings by the end: MinatoXoc. NarutoXHinata. SakuraXSasuke. SaiXoc. May end up with more_

_LadySesshy owns the character Reiko who is later paired with Sai. She's given me permission to use her OC_

_Many thanks to my friends, ShadowHachia and Ookamaikai for their wonderful ideas._

**Prologue**

He couldn't believe he was going to do this. But he, as the Fourth Hokage had to up hold the village's ideals. His wife just gave birth and he never got to hold his son in happiness before it was completely ripped away from when the masked man showed up, threatening to kill his newborn if he didn't move away from his wife who happened to be the vessel for the Nine Tails. The entire night of his son's first hours was scrambling around to save the village and his wife from this masked man, but it was a failure. He was losing both his son and wife at least his son was alive and he knew the Third Hokage would be sure to have him clothed and fed. It was a good thing a trust fund was set up for little Naruto.

Minato had just sealed part of the nine tails inside of him and he was planning on sacrificing himself to be sure Naruto would know of his past as well as his mother. It was both decided upon, much to Kushina's protests that the two would sacrifice themselves to save their son by locking the nine tails inside of Naruto and locking what was left of their chakra into their son as well so if and when the time would come, and it was sure to happen, Naruto would lose control of he seal, both parents would show up in his mind and tell him all that had happened on the day of his birth.

Minato had to act fast though as he saw the Nine Tails was attacking with a claw. The Nine Tails figured what the new parents were about to do and they were going to try and stop them. It would impale the newborn, leaving nothing but blood and its wake where the child rested.

"No!" Minato cried out as he ran as fast as he could, chakra fading fast because of the amount he used to do his Flying Raijin Jutsu, which he used several times more than normal. The last time he was this weakened was during the last ninja war when he got behind enemy lines and created all sorts of havoc.

"Naruto!" Kushina cried as she too rushed to save her son from being impaled. She was dying anyway and she knew that since the Nine Tails was now free.

Both parents were rushing towards the newborn not knowing something was able to enter the barrier, but was witnessed from the outside by the Third Hokage and a few others. Inside the barrier was a cloaked figure. One couldn't see the face nor what the person behind the cloak was wearing. The cloak was dark in color and reached the ground.

"No!" the former Hokage called out as he couldn't help but ignore the cloaked figure for the moment as he too was watching the infant and his parents. The baby was in danger and his parents working to protect the baby.

"I can't let this happen!" called out a voice from within the barrier.

The Third Hokage barely was able to make out the figure say something else, which sounded a lot like, "There's only one chance! Here goes!"

He observed as the clocked figure pulled out his hand and fired something from within in his hand, shouting, "Travel the Winds!"

Minato heard the words but he wasn't in any way going to stop from getting to his son. Sudden pain stung his back as he felt the pressure of a sharp claw begin to pierce his skin. For him it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. His eyes widened, knowing what was happening.

Not even with a blink, a sudden white flash crossed his vision and he couldn't see anything. The white flash was getting brighter and brighter. In that instant, no longer could he feel the claw continue its track into his back, tearing a hole that would no doubt go through him and out the other side to pierce his wife.

"Naruto!" Minato heard his wife cry out.

"Let the future be undone!" a voice shouted, giving the Fourth Hokage the last thing heard before everything vanished before him.

The cloaked figure who fired the sudden ball of light, stood where he was, breathing heavily. "Did I do it?!"

The light slowly faded leaving Kushina pierced by the claw, preventing her son from being killed. Behind her appeared to what look like her husband, but there was something off about him. His eyes weren't glassed over in pain.

"Yes! I did it!" the figure threw a fist in the air.

The figure watched for a few minutes before Kushina then slumped over, dead and what appeared as her husband then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The cloaked figure suddenly collapsed in extreme pain just as the barrier disappeared allowing the Hokage and those around him to move in.

The Hokage's men ran to the infant and his dead mother while the older man himself went to the cloaked figure.

"What's the meaning of this!?" he demanded just as another cloaked figure came out of the bushes. He walked straight over to the fallen cloaked figure.

"I'm sorry about this," spoke the one who was now kneeling before his friend. "But this is a top secret assignment."

"No…" groaned the one who was on the ground. Weakly he pulled his arms up to lift his body up off the ground. "Sai… help me to stand."

"Of course." The one called 'Sai' helped the other to his feet. The fallen cloaked figure kept his face well hidden while the one known as Sai did not.

"Lord Third Hokage," replied the man in pain. "Listen to me and please try and believe when I say this. My… Minato has been sent somewhere into the future to prevent a disaster from happening a second time. I came back to change what is to become because where we come from, everyone is dead."

"Why can't I see your face?" the Hokage demanded.

"It's to protect his identity," Sai replied.

"Please, I need you to make everyone in the village believe the Fourth Hokage died heroically, saving the entire village from the nine tails. If it weren't for my intervention just now, he would have died anyway. Also…" he winced in pain again. "Where Minato is still alive, people will think he's dead and he'll need something to prove he is who he says he is."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Perhaps I can help with that," replied another voice as he stepped forward and revealed his face to the Hokage, causing the man to gasp in shock. "This is a top secret assignment and it must be followed through everyone in the future depends on this. If this fails then the future will be destroyed. We are the last remaining members of the ninja society where we come from. Some time in the future there will be a Fourth Shinobi War and with that, will kill everyone and we must stop it."

"Perhaps we should discuss the matter in a more private setting," suggested the Hokage, recognizing the face. But how was this possible? "Right now I must deal with the baby and his mother."

"Of course," the man replied. "We will talk but don't discuss this matter to any one. The less who know the better."

"Then why tell me?"

"Because you're the only we can trust at this point."

"Alright. Remain here and I'll return as soon as I can to discuss this further. With the Fourth Hokage gone, this village will fall apart."

"Not if you take back the control of being Hokage. You are the Third Hokage after all."

"Yes, I am."

With that said, the Hokage moved away from the cloaked figures and worked on dealing with the infant who was now an orphan and bared the sealed nine tails in his body who grow up with no friends until he was 12 when graduated from the academy.


	2. Chapter 1 Securing the Future

**Chapter 1: Securing the Future**

Watching from the sidelines, in the bushes, keeping best care of suppressing their chakra, a lone female and one other male waited until the Third Hokage and his men collected the deceased body of the Fourth Hokage's wife and the newborn boy who was named Naruto. Once everyone was gone, the fully cloaked figure turned to the bushes. He was in pain but would manage. This wasn't the first time he had to deal with this sort of pain before. He looked over to where his other two friends were.

"The cost is clear. You guys can come out now," he called to them.

The two were quick to pull out. The female was quick to rush over to the one who revealed himself to the Hokage. "Are you sure that was wise to do that?"

"The best way for the Hokage to listen," he started. "Is to reveal one of us and I chose me to be that person."

"Why you? Why not just stick with Sai?" she argued.

"Because if you remember, the Hokage never got to meet Sai. He remained in Danzo's services in Root until Lady Tsunade was forced to have him join my team." He looked over to another man. "Sai, the Hokage may not know you but it's not wise to really keep yourself out in the open like that. You may only be an infant in this time frame but you will be placed in Root and train under Danzo's supervision. He could recognize eventually connect the dots later on when you become a teenager."

Sai nodded as he pulled his cloak a little tighter around himself. "Of course Kakashi-Sensei."

The woman then turned away from Kakashi and marched over to the one most covered. "That was outright reckless, you moron!" she hissed, hitting him in the head, knocking the cloak off the guy's revealing blond hair and a forehead protector over his forehead which was nearly black in color and fell down his back further than anyone else's.

"Ow! Sakura!" he whined.

"Sakura, don't over exert yourself," replied one who removed his cloak from over his head revealing black hair and onyx eyes. "And you know he had to do what he did."

"Yes but it was still reckless!" she snapped.

"Look, what else was I to do?" asked the blonde one. "It was either watch it all happen or risk everything to save his life."

"Speaking of which, are you sure the jutsu worked?" asked Kakashi, turning to the blonde.

"Yes. My shadow clone was able to get in the way making it look like him so… so…" a few tears fell from his eyes. "My mom could think he was there with her. She said many wonderful things for me to do."

Sakura's anger slipped away quickly to be replaced with sadness. "Naruto, that must have been extremely tough for you to see your parents just now giving their life for you." A tear slid down her cheek. "A very heroic sacrifice. Now I can see why Lord Fourth died a hero."

Naruto took a few deep breaths before looking to his friends. "Yes, but this time I know he's alive so I have a chance to bond with my father in the end. Well I don't, but that newborn baby that is me will."

"Only as long as this plan works," Kakashi intervened. "Naruto, when did you send the Fourth Hokage?"

"About 15 years from now," he answered. "I figured that is a good of time as any. It's before I returned back with Pervy Sage with my training. So that should give lots of time for him to figure things out before stopping Obito."

"Why didn't you save your mother too?"

Naruto turned to his other friend. "Because Sasuke, using that forbidden jutsu bringing us all here drained a lot of my chakra. I had to use Kurama's chakra just to send my father away to save him. I wanted to save her too but I only had enough power for one more person."

"So we can't get back home?" Sakura gasped, not wanting to believe it.

"Sakura there's no future for us there," Kakashi replied. "Even if it were possible for us to return, that future will be gone. We all saw all those die at the hands of Obito. Gaara died helping us get here. This was all a one-way trip. No returns. We will die here in the past and hopefully still be alive when the time comes for the Fourth Shinobi War."

"No!" Naruto hissed. "I won't let that happened! I will burn in hell if I must, to prevent that bastard from allowing that to happen. Grandma Tsunade gave her life protecting the village! I won't allow her death to go in vain and I won't let Gaara's either."

"Calm down Naruto," Sasuke replied. "Yes, our world is gone but we can try and prevent it which is why we're here and hopefully we'll be successful and no one of this time will know the difference because we'll be dead."

"All right everyone," Kakashi stated, the conversation at hand was getting out of hand. "You all need to calm down. Right now we have to secure our location and not be seen by anyone of this time line except for the Hokage. Naruto. Sasuke. You two know the layout of the land well, go and get some firewood to make a fire. Sai, why don't you try and find us some food. We'll be here for some time yet before the Hokage will return. We also need to strategize in how we'll convince the Hokage to write this letter for the Fourth Hokage to be sure he's an authentic one when the time comes. Once we leave here, we must stay out of history's way so we'll go into the mountains where there's rarely any shinobi and let history run its course. Sasuke, that includes the massacre of your people as well. Don't try and divert it. We are here for one reason and one reason only, to stop Obito from starting the war."

Sasuke snorted as his eyes blazed for a moment before he turned away. "Fine. Whatever."

Everyone split and did what was ordered while Kakashi took a seat and Sakura worked on using her healing chakra to help his wounds he had sustained during the last battle just before the doorway had opened to bring everyone from Team Kakashi to the past.

"You should worry about your own wounds," Kakashi stated as he looked over to where Sakura had her hands and could see the green chakra healing power.

"I know, but we need you right now. You're the only one who is most calm about this."

"Yes, I can tell you're nervous," he pointed out. "Sakura there's nothing to be afraid of. Now that the nine tails is gone, the village is safe."

"That's not what I'm worried about," she answered. "I'm just…worried we'll fail."

"And your ninja training taught you not to show your fear or be scared during missions or it will fail."

Sakura glared at the man before her. She could barely make out his masked face, but could easily see is lone eye. "Can't you just at least let me for once feel like this?"

Kakashi sighed once again. "Alright. We do have some time before the Hokage returns. Knowing him he's right now tending to the affairs of who were killed by the Nine Tails and dealing with Naruto's mother. It will also take time to assess whatever damage was done and get repair crews on it."

Sakura nodded. "And he'll also be dealing with taking back the office."

"I don't expect him back until at least sometime tomorrow or later. That gives all lots of time to reflect what has happened and to let everything sink in so we can focus on the new task at hand. We have 15 years before we'll see Lord Fourth Hokage again. In that time we'll have already gotten over the shock of everything."

"That's IF we make it. Fifteen years in the past having to avoid our younger selves, that's going to be tough."

"True, but we also know where all our missions will be so we can easily avoid them."

She sighed as her power died down, indicating she did what she could for now.

He looked at her for a few minutes before sighing. "Sakura, why don't you take a few moments to rest. You've been exhausting your energy and you need allow your chakra to return."

Sakura tiredly nodded. "You're right. Pulling a pack out from beneath her cloak, she pulled it open and tugged out a blanket. She rested it on the ground before laying on it, using her pack as a pillow and tried to get some rest. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

As Sasuke and Naruto were searching for firewood, the young blonde felt the silence was getting annoying. For months he was forced to hear battle cries screaming in his ears, even while he slept, making him not get much sleep at all. If it weren't for the medical ninja, he would have lost his life long ago. But now the quietness was too much for him. Although, being with Sasuke, it did bring back memories of back when they were first Genin.

With a sigh, he decided to strike up a conversation. "Sasuke, I never had a chance to thank you back there. I mean from before."

"You don't have to thank me," the Uchiha replied, knowing what he was talking about. "I'm partially to blame. I'm the one who joined the Akatsuki not knowing what Obito's intentions were."

"No one knew. Besides how the hell were you supposed to know he was going wipe out the entire shinobi world when you joined the fight?"

"If I knew then what I know now…" Sasuke clenched his fists. "Damn it! Why didn't I know the truth sooner? I could have stopped the war."

"Well we're going to stop it now."

"Yeah, but at what cost? We both know Kakashi isn't well. Sakura is doing what she can for his wounds but there is too many. You have the nine tails so your injuries are easy to maintain. Sai has whatever he was taught in Root. And me, well I have what I took from Orochimaru."

"I know!" Naruto yelled. "This is a suicide mission. But it's the only way to stop the war and to stop Obito from killing everyone. Look Sasuke, can we just drop this. I only wanted to thank for helping us get here. I just witnessed my own parents' die saving me. I'm now about to be raised with no family and constantly ridiculed because every adult will know I have the nine tails."

"Yes, but look what you gained," Sasuke pointed out. "Iruka-Sensei knew and he still cared because he knew you were innocent in all of this. You have Sakura, who after being teamed up with you, she became your friend. You also have Kakashi who trained you, even if it was a short time. And of course you have other friends."

"Yeah and they are all dead now!"

"They may be dead from where he left, but they ain't here. If not for your friends who achieved after becoming a Genin, you wouldn't be the man you are today. You never gave up and swore you'd have me return to the village. Well guess what I did. So you dreams came true. And now you're going to alter the future, destroying the ability for all of us to die and still have your shot at Hokage so all is not lost. And your young self will have a parent in time. Yes, he misses you growing up but he won't miss your children, making him a grandfather. Unlike mine. My brother killed or will kill my entire clan leaving him and me the only ones left."

"And Obito and that's only if 'we' can make this work. Just because I sent my dad into the future, doesn't mean everything will work out in the end. Our future could still happen."

"Yes, but the Fourth Hokage will be around to see it and he may be able to stop Danzo too. That sick bastard. I want to go into the village right now and kill him for what's done." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Or what he will do in six years. It sickens me about that."

"You heard what Kakashi-Sensei said. We can't change anything including the Uchiha…"

"Don't have to repeat it! Just shut up and get the firewood and just for the record…" he paused before looking to the young man beside him. "You're still a loser."

Naruto stopped walking and turned to his friend, giving the man a smile. "Thanks Sasuke. And you're still jerk."

Sasuke smirked. "I know." He then turned and began to find some small sticks to help make a fire. Though he called Naruto a loser to him, it was his way of saying 'I got your back, my friend' and for Naruto he was saying the same thing and Sasuke caught on.

* * *

It took nearly two days before the Third Hokage returned to where Naruto's parents were killed. In that time he declared himself back to being the Hokage again at the same time giving a hard blow to the entire village saying the Fourth Hokage died, giving his life to save the village. Never stating on who Naruto's parents were, the Hokage informed all the shinobi of the village the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Nine Tails in baby Naruto. He never stated why or who Naruto really was. Also it took the Hokage time to deal with Naruto's parents memorial plans as well as securing the child's way through life until graduating from the academy when the kid would be able to afford his own way.

By the time that was all done, the Hokage then took it upon himself to excuse himself from his elite Jonin bodyguards and told them to stay in proximity of what he was about to do but not in earshot. The Hokage now had time to deal with the strangers who showed up, disrupting the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice. Who were those people and why did one sound and look identical to Kakashi Hatake, a member of ANBU.

Arriving at the field, the Third Hokage was quick to notice in the middle of the field, there was a small bomb fire and five cloaked figures. When everything went down, the Hokage noted there were only three at the time. So there were more after all. What was this all about and why?

"I came as promised," he announced his approach, having the feeling they already knew he was there. If this Kakashi was a copy of the original, then those around him were trained ninjas too. And the one named Sai wore a Leaf headband just like Kakashi did.

Sai and Kakashi turned to the sound while the other three covered figures remained stationed, seemingly staring into the fire while one of them was tending to cooking some food. The Hokage thought it was strange to see the three doing that and didn't know the five had already discussed a plan.

Naruto made sure to cover his face completely as did Sasuke and Sakura. All three would know the Hokage for 12 years and he would know what they look like very well in that time. Yes they were taller than the last time the Hokage saw them in their world but their looks hadn't changed too much. When the three would graduate from the academy he would realize Kakashi wasn't the only double now.

"Thank you for coming," Kakashi replied.

"So what's this all about?" the Hokage asked.

"Please, have a seat and we'll tell you. We don't want to give too much as it will alter the time line too much," Kakashi began. "As you can tell you know who I am."

"Kakashi Hatake, but how is this possible? You're back in the village."

Seeing the older man was still standing, Kakashi took a deep breath and continued. "I am there as we speak but that is my younger self. We all come from the future using a forbidden jutsu."

"That is a serious crime to use one of those," the Hokage replied.

"Yes, hence why they are called forbidden. But the usage of this technique was dire. You see where we are from, there was a great a war, the Fourth Shinobi War."

"So you've said."

"During that war a great catastrophe happens, killing all shinobis. The enemy is unlike anything any shinobi have ever faced before. Everywhere is dead there except for us and we would be too if not for the jutsu my young friend here used to get us here."

"Why should I believe you?" the Hokage asked, as he finally took a seat by Kakashi, but kept his defences up.

"Lord Hokage, we understand you have no reason to believe us, but I implore you to help us. The Fourth Hokage still is alive but was transported away with the same technique, sending him to the future to hopefully prevent the war from happening. I can't say how far or where we are from as we don't want to tip the balance too much."

"Then why tell me at all?"

"Because we need your seal of approval to help the Fourth Hokage prove his identity when the time comes. For now, everyone is to believe he's dead and when he does reveal himself, he will need prove or he will be imprisoned and all of this will be for nothing. There is one thing I can tell you where we came from, all five great nations form an alliance against this enemy and lose. That is how dire this is. All the Kages are dead with the Kazekage the last to fall. He helped us procure the jutsu and send us here."

"This foe must be powerful to align the nations together," the Hokage replied, surprised by this.

"Yes." Kakashi then held out his hand, revealing a red mark. "This is what we are dying from. A strong poisonous gas that disrupts the chakra flow when using a jutsu is what killed everyone. The war was going well, though we lost many comrades and just when it would appear we had the tactical advantaged, the enemy sprung this on us."

The Hokage looked at the mark on Kakashi's hand and could see it was trying to spread. "Can't this be treated?"

"No," replied a female voice from beneath a cloak, keeping her face well hidden. "I'm a medic ninja taught by the best medics out there and there's no way I can cure this in time. Perhaps an antidote can be found, but we don't have the time to find it. We would need…" she trailed off, going silent again.

"Need who?" the Hokage asked after a few moments of silence.

Kakashi sighed that was not what was discussed hours earlier for the plan to convince the Hokage to help them. Sakura was to reveal she was a medic ninja but not by who she was trained by. "What my medic is trying to say is we'd need several medics all well adverse in medical jutsus including the well known Sannin Lady Tsunade. But by the time we'd be able to find her, we'd be dead. We don't have much time."

"Then if what you say is true, then why get me to give proof the Fourth Hokage is alive in a letter?"

"Because out of all of us here, there is one who may not be affected by the poison and he could survive this and give the letter to Lord Fourth when he arrives in the new time. For him, it will be instantaneously. He will only just have seen himself getting ready to die protecting his newborn son when he will appear. I'm sure it will take him time to understand what has happened."

"I too am affected," Sai admitted, showing his hand but the poison didn't seem to be as advanced as with Kakashi. "We have no intention in getting in history's way other than what we've already tampered with."

"Yes. We will fade into the mountains and you'll never hear from us until the time is right," Kakashi added, knowing full well that wouldn't happen for the Third Hokage. He would die at Orochimaru's hands 12 years from now, paving the way for Tsunade to be brought out of hiding.

"I see and you Kakashi are the proof to show that you are from where you say you're from."

"Yes," he answered. "Perhaps a little piece of mind may help you." He turned to the fire. "Naruto, reveal yourself."

"Naruto?!" blinked the Hokage.

"But…" a voice protested. "You said…"

"Now, Naruto," Kakashi commanded. "I know what we discussed and I did say we may need to use a different approach. It will show the absolute proof to show what we need for Lord Hokage to do."

"Fine." One of the cloaked figures stood and walked over to the two of them before removing his cloak, revealing his blond hair, blue eyes, the six whiskers on his face which was obtained when the seal took place and the Leaf headband.

"My god!" gasped the Hokage.

"Meet Naruto Uzumaki, a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village," Kakashi introduced. "I wasn't planning on for you to see Naruto, but I'm sure seeing him will help you to understand. You're the Hokage once again, which means what we tell you will remain a secret and be taken to the grave. No one will know of this."

"You look so much like your father," the Hokage breathed.

Naruto nodded before putting the cloak back over his head. "Yes, I know, which is one of the reasons why I had do what I did. My father was spared to stop the war. I wanted to save her too, but I only had enough power for one more jump with one person."

"And the others?"

"Members of the Leaf too, but I wish for them to remain a mystery. Like I said earlier the less you know the better."

"Yes, of course Kakashi." The older man turned back to Kakashi. "So Naruto does become a ninja but since you haven't told me where you're from, I won't know exactly when this will happen."

"No," Kakashi shook his head. "Please, Lord Third Hokage, we need your assistance. Lord Fourth, Naruto's father, will need your assistance."

"Alright," the man agreed. "I'll write the letter. But I didn't bring anything with me. I will need to return back to the Hokage Tower."

"Perhaps one of us should go with you," Sai suggested. "We don't want to raise suspicions with you returning back here once again."

"Agreed. I will go into the village and retrieve the letter," Kakashi suggested.

"Kakashi-Sensei, you can't!" Naruto gasped. "You're younger self may see you."

"I know exactly where I am at the moment and I'm nowhere near the Hokage Tower."

"This is true," the Hokage agreed. "I sent you, your younger self, and Might Guy to work on rebuilding the wall where the Nine Tails first entered the village."

"Yes, which gives me a safe line through the village and I'll go after dark when all shops are closed. But I'll take the route from the mountain top."

"And I'll be waiting," the Hokage answered.

"Agreed," Kakashi nodded.

With the agreement settled, the Hokage stood and began to make his way back towards the village where he met up with his bodyguards. At the appointed time, Kakashi did what he stated and made his way to the mountain range of the village and carefully made his way down and around the Hokage Tower, which then he grabbed the letter and then disappeared into the night, never to be seen again.

* * *

_(During the Nine Tails Attack)_

"No!" Minato cried out as he ran as fast as he could.

"Naruto!" Kushina cried.

Both parents rushed towards the newborn not knowing something else was now in the barrier.

"Travel the Winds!"

Minato heard the words but his son was more important. He felt sudden pain sting his back as the pressure of a sharp claw began to pierce his skin. For him it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. His eyes widened, knowing the Nine Tails claw was piercing him.

Before he could blink, a sudden white flash crossed his vision and he couldn't see anything. The white flash was getting brighter and brighter. In that instant, no longer could he feel the claw continue its track into his back, tearing a hole that would no doubt go through him and out the other side to pierce his wife.

"Naruto!" Minato heard his wife cry out.

"Let the future be undone!" a voice shouted, giving the Fourth Hokage the last thing he heard before everything vanished before him only to be replaced by peace and quiet.

The only sounds Minato could now hear were crickets. There was light all around him, preventing him from seeing but it was slowly fading. When the light completely dissipated his eyes widened in shock. Where was Kushina? Where was Naruto? Just a split second ago, he saw his wife and son and was about to die for his son.

With nothing to keep his balance up, he felt himself fall forward. In the last moment before crashing fully to the ground, his arms lifted to brace the impact, on reflex. The pain at his back stung still, indicating he was still alive and injured, but now he had new pain to deal with. His hands were the first to hit the ground, small rocks embedding itself into his hands, scraping the skin, piercing the flesh, causing blood to service.

"Oh my god!" cried a female voice he did not recognize as blackness began to cover his sight and hearing. He was losing consciousness and he knew it. Just what the hell was going on and why was there a strange woman calling out?

Minato tried to fight the darkness, but his body was too weak. He barely felt arms pull his body off the ground and onto his side. He tiredly opened his eyes showing him a blurry image of a woman with dark hair. He couldn't see anything else as his eyes slid closed again and his body went limp.


	3. Chapter 2 This is Not Happening!

**Chapter 2: This is Not Happening!**

"Oh…" he moaned as he felt something underneath him. He remembered the flash of light and then falling with nothing around him. What the hell happened?

"Oh good. I'm relieved to see you're awake," replied a female voice he didn't know. Wait!? Didn't know? Where was he?

For several seconds he tried to force his eyes to open but they wouldn't budge. With much concentration, his eyes shot open revealing beautiful blue eyes. Too alert to look around, he tried to sit up but immediately regretted it as sharp pain went straight through his back. With a wince, his body wanted to lean forward, but something was restricting his movements and it came from the pain in his back.

"Easy now!" the woman gasped out. "You had a very nasty wound on your back. I bandaged the wound up but if you move too quick you'll reopen them again."

"Where…where am I?" he asked as he felt hands pushing on his shoulders to lean him back.

"My home," she replied. "Well my get away home. I'm currently not living in the village so I built myself a house outside the village. Have no idea where you came from, but you just suddenly came from out nowhere with a flash of light."

It took a few moments for his eyes to fully go into focus to only prove the woman's words. He was indeed in a house, lying on a bed. It was easy for him to tell he wasn't laying on a traditional futon. There weren't many people who knew who actually slept on futons. They had regular beds. His eyes drifted over to her, now able to fully see she had black hair pulled back in a high ponytail. Her hair fell down her back in a large curtain all the way to nearly her thighs. She wore what appeared to be a purple like dress and an armband showing the Leaf symbol. What really got his attention though were her beautiful lavender eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked, relieved to know he was around comrades in arms.

"Selene," she answered, taking a step away from him to sit on the bed beside him. "And you? You remind me of the pictures I've seen of the Fourth Hokage."

"I am the Fourth Hokage," he answered, a bit insulted by her words.

"No, that can't be," she stated with a shake of her head. "He died 15 years ago, by the Nine Tailed Fox when he trapped it inside of a newborn baby."

"What!?" he gasped. "Impossible. I'm right here alive! I'm Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage."

Selene shook her head and took a deep breath. "Ok, for the sake of arguing. Let's say you are telling me the truth and you are Minato, the Fourth Hokage, then tell me, how is it that it's been 15 years since the Nine Tails attack."

Minato blinked. "What? Fifteen years? You sure?"

"Well I should be. I was only a toddler when that happened. My father died trying to protect a civilian and her baby from the Nine Tails." She took a deep breath. "Many say he died a hero…"

Minato listened, not missing a thing, including her eyes filling up with tears. Not wanting a repeat performance as a few moments ago, he carefully sat up, taking into consideration of the injury he sustained from the Nine Tails. "Tell me," he gently pleaded.

She looked up at him before shaking her head again. "He died trying to save a mother and child but they died too. He was given a hero's memorial…" Standing up from the bed, she turned away from the man, walking over to the window as the sun began to rise. "But how could he have gotten a hero's memorial when he allowed two people to die?"

Sensing her distress, Minato felt like he should at least give her some comfort. She was berating her father over doing something so heroic. She shouldn't feel bad about it. Very carefully, he pulled his legs off the bed, letting them drop to the floor, twisting his body at the same time so he was sitting. It was extremely difficult to do with his wounded back. Once his feet touched the floor, he carefully pulled his weight into his legs and slowly lifted himself off the bed. A few painful grunts escaped his lips quietly as he made himself stand and then slowly walk towards her. He had been injured several times before, but never like this. He was quite amazed he could even walk since the Nine Tails claw was nearly shattering his back in two.

"You shouldn't think of the negative side of things," he quietly replied as he reached her, standing just a few feet away, looking at her back. "He gave his life to try and save another and that's why he died a hero. He would have died a coward if he didn't try and save the woman and her child."

"But he failed!" she blurted.

"Maybe so," he continued. "But you got to look at the bigger picture of things. It's the idea he tried. I'm sure he tried what he could."

Wondering why his voice sounded so close to her, she turned to him, surprised to see him standing near her. She blinked several times, blinking away the tears. "You shouldn't be out of bed."

"And you shouldn't try and change the subject," he argued. He had two students who did that a lot to one another, coming up with excuses. Oh how he missed them, especially Obito. The kid had great potential but he lost his life before he could even get started. Thinking back on her name, something was bugging him about it as it sounded very familiar to him. He then lightly gasped, finally recognizing the name. "Wait. You said your name is Selene. I can remember a young child named Selene Kusho. She was born during the Third Shinobi War."

She blinked surprised he knew her name. "I'm Selene Kusho. My mom was a medic ninja. Normally the Hokage blesses the newborn children but he couldn't because we were in a war. But after the war ended the Fourth Hokage, as his first task as being Hokage blessed me as part of the village. I was the first child to be blessed by the new Hokage."

He shook his head. "This is unreal," he breathed as he turned away. "I was just fighting the Nine Tails and was just about to sacrifice myself with my wife when…" he paused and looked at her. "I woke up here just now. It was just like mere minutes ago I was about to die in front of my newborn son."

Selene blinked. "I'm sorry. But you must believe me when I say the Fourth Hokage did die the night the Nine Tails attacked and he and his wife sacrificed themselves in front of a newborn baby, trapping the tailed beast in the baby."

Minato gasped again, turning his full body to face her once again. "That can't be. I'm standing right here. I'm not dead."

"Well obviously. But you would have died if I didn't treat your wound in your back. Whatever got you in the back sure did a number on you. Though I am quite curious to know why you wore a coat saying 'Fourth Hokage'."

"Because I am the Fourth Hokage," he argued. This was getting annoying but at the same time he didn't want to believe her either. She informed him already he was 15 years forward in time from where he just was. But how was that possible? Time travel was a forbidden jutsu and he knew the only people who had such knowledge of it were the Uzumaki clan, but they were nearly now wiped out. He figured there was now only a small group.

"You may look like him," she continued, "but you can't be him. I mean the Nine Tails was 15 years ago. I was only four years old when that attack happened. I'm now 19."

He couldn't believe what he was he was hearing. Before him supposedly was the same girl he blessed right after he became Hokage. "This is just too unreal," he replied, feeling a bit light headed.

"Perhaps you should lay down," she suggested. She didn't believe him but she couldn't deny the fact there was an extremely handsome man standing in her bedroom and was recovering from a serious wound.

"No, I'll be…" he trailed off as he felt his knees wanting to give out on him.

Selene was quick to step forward, draping an arm around his body, preventing him from falling. "In worse shape if you don't listen to me and lay down. How about for the time being we agree to disagree on the matter. You don't believe me that it's been 15 years and I don't believe you're the Fourth Hokage, so what should I call you then?"

Sighing in defeat, he put his trust into her weight as she hobbled him back over to the bed and helped him to lie down. When he was situated in bed once again, this time sitting up, she gave him a serious look. She could tell he was annoyed at her not believing him.

"Minato," he finally answered, caving once again. If not for her, he would be dead. The injury he received from the Nine Tails, before it vanished and everything around him, would have been a fatal blow for him. "Hang on a moment," he began, realizing something. "You said I have a nasty wound. How bad was it?"

"Bad enough that it could have killed you. It actually broke your spinal cord."

"Then how come I can move then?" he asked.

"I was taught some medical jutsu from the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Not as much as her pupil, but enough that I was able to rebuild your spinal cord. Mind you, the flesh is very fresh so you'll need to take it easy for awhile and the bone is probably quite tender."

"Tsunade?!" he blinked. The woman before him was stating the female Sannin, Tsunade who was taught under the Third Hokage and teammate to his own Sensei, Jiraiya was claimed to be his successor?

"Yes, Tsunade. Master Jiraiya was sent to look for her after the Third Hokage was killed three years ago in an ambush attack."

Minato put a hand to his head. "This is just so unreal," he breathed. "It…it just can't be true."

Selene frowned. "Same goes for you claiming you're the Fourth Hokage who died protecting the village. The Third Hokage had to take back office to ensure safety and not put the village in a panic."

"This is getting too much for me." He couldn't believe it. Everyone thought he was dead and it had been 15 years since his son was born, that would mean his son grew up as an orphan like Kushina said and he was now nearly a man.

"Look, there's no sense in stressing over this right now. All I know is, I was minding my own business taking a midnight walk as I couldn't sleep and suddenly right before my eyes a flash of light appeared and when it disappeared, you were in its place. I was in too much shock from witnessing how you showed up that I couldn't catch you in time to stop you from falling to the ground."

He looked up at her, his blue eyes full of questions. "Yes…" he breathed. "There was a bright light, which blinded me when I tried to save… my son. I knew I was going to be impaled but I didn't care, the protection of my son was most important. I felt the claw of the Nine Tails pierce my back but that's when a light blinded me and then the piercing was gone and the light faded. My son nor wife were around me and since I didn't feel anything impaling me anymore, I collapsed, losing my balance. Although, just before the light blinded me, I think I heard someone call out but so much was happening at once, I can't be sure."

Selene wanted to snort but she could see what he was saying, he truly believed it. Shrugging if off, she decided to let him think what he wanted, eventually he would see the truth, at least she hoped.

"Must have been horrible for you," she replied, taking a seat on the bed. "I mean you're about to watch your son die and then everything around you disappears."

He nodded as a tear fell from his eye. "Yes and now they're gone."

"I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "Ummm… by any chance are you hungry? I can make you something if you'd like. Since being outside the village, I've actually become quite the home cooker."

He nodded. "Sure why not. I haven't eaten anything in many hours. According to you I'm 15 years in the future and yet that can't be possible. For me it feels like just hours ago my son was born and my wife was sacrificing herself to save our son."

She did feel bad for him. Selene could see the anguish on his face that his wife and son were gone. Basically she was looking at a widower. "It's no secret, but the Nine Tails spirit is sealed within a ninja of the village," Selene offered to tell him. She may be a Jonin but she could tell by the clothes he wore and the headband she removed from his head that he was a Leaf Shinobi. Also many other ninja villages now have learnt Naruto had the Fox spirit."

At the mention of his son's name, his head snapped up and he stared at her. "Did you say Naruto?"

"Yes. Naruto Uzumaki," she answered. "The village's loudest most hyperactive knucklehead ninja. It's a wonder he even graduated from the academy in the first place. But he did and thanks to Master Jiraiya, Naruto mastered in how to do the Rasengan."

His eyes widened, was she referring to his son? If she was telling the truth and he was 15 years into the future that meant his son was now 15 or so. His eyes narrowed slightly Naruto Uzumaki? Wouldn't his son have his name not his mother's?

"I'm confused on something. My son was named Naruto, but what you say it sounds like there's two Naruto's."

"Nope. There's only one Naruto of the Hidden Leaf Village and he's currently away on a long term assignment with Master Jiraiya." She stood and made her to way to the bedroom door. "Why don't you just try and relax and I'll make you some soup. Whatever happened to you, I can tell you've been through a lot. I don't believe what you've said to me about being the Fourth Hokage, but you are hurt and I would never forgive myself if I didn't try and help you get better."

Not wanting to argue, Minato leaned his head back, eyes closing, trying to make some sense in what was going on. He didn't want to believe her and yet how could one explain why he was no longer with his wife. He knew Selene didn't have the answers and could see she was just as baffled as he was. With the thought of his wife, a few tears slid down his face. It was normally true Ninjas didn't cry for fear of weakness, but his wife was gone and somehow someone or something pushed him out of the way.

* * *

Deep in the mountains two men sat over a small fire staring into space at the flames. The two were known as Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, but they weren't young teenagers. These two were from being teenagers, they were grown men from another time. They had travelled with three other companions 15 years ago from a destroyed future to alter their past. Now there were only the two left after the other three succumbed to the poison they were struck with before transporting to the past.

"Naruto are you sure the time is right?" asked Sasuke.

"Yes. I sent my father to the future approximately 15 years. If I'm right on the date, Dad would have instantly appeared from thin air in the exact spot where the Nine Tails attack was when Mom killed herself to save me."

"Do you have the Hokage letter?"

Naruto slid his hand deep into his cloak, pulling out a sealed scroll. "Right here. I wonder where my dad is. Wonder if he would know today is my birthday."

"I'm sure he does. Soon you'll reunite with him and we can finally be done with this mission."

"You didn't have to come along you know," the blonde argued.

"Naruto, I have to give my younger self a stern talking to. You know just as well as I, he's about to make a huge mistake. And I'm going to stop him before he does. Right now he's probably still with Orochimaru as you said yourself your younger self is with Jiraiya."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah… Perhaps we can stop him… you… from trying to kill Sakura."

"That happened after Obito declared war on the Five Great Nations. If all goes well your father will prevent the war from even being declared. He's not known as the Yellow Flash for nothing."

"Yeah Kakashi-Sensei told me about my Dad, even going so far as to admitting Dad was his Sensei. I wonder back when we were first Genin, if the Third Hokage put me with Kakashi-Sensei specifically for that."

"I doubt it. I think it has more to do with the Nine Tails. Come on, we should try and get going and cover more ground at night."

"And we are close to the ground anyway. It's been six months since we've left the mountain top where we…"

"Naruto, don't even say it. We already knew this was a suicide mission and we knew the poison would eventually kill them." Sasuke then stood and went over to gather their things.

"Yeah…" the blonde replied sadly. "And eventually we will too."

"Not you. You have the Nine Tails to heal you."

Sasuke didn't pay attention to his friend as he picked up their sacks and pulled one over his shoulder as suddenly all around him went dark. Naruto had put out the fire. The blonde then walked over to his friend and took the sack the black haired man carried.

"Let's go!"

With their packs secured on their backs the two used their quickest speeds to finish their climb down off the mountains, which had taken them six months to do. Within days they'd be in Fire Country where they'd then begin their search for the living Fourth Hokage, which one know alive knew existed.

* * *

With a beautiful morning, after a rainstorm, Selene ventured out of her house and began to tend to her garden, not paying attention she didn't leave the safety of the house alone. She was so focused on wanting to deal with her garden; she didn't see Minato exit the house, looking around. On her hands were gardening gloves when Selene knelt down on her knees, putting a waterproof tarp under her so her knees wouldn't get soaked and began to week her garden by hand.

"What are you doing?" asked Minato as he carefully walked over to her. He was amazed how the area around her house looked.

She snapped around to gawk at him. She had felt his chakra approach but wasn't sure it was him or not. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Getting tired of being in bed," he answered. "Now, answer mine."

For nearly a week the two kept talking like that. One asking a question and the other answers with a question, but then both questions get answered. Neither had yet accepted what the other had said but the two had mutually agreed to not discuss the matter anymore.

"For the past six months I've been living here and my crops are needing to be tended to."

He took a look around the field they were in. A small one story, one bedroom house was near the tree line. Beside the house was a vegetable garden, which Selene now was kneeling at. There was a swing tied to a tree on the other side of the garden. Near the middle of the field was a stream, giving Selene perfect direction for water. "You live here by yourself?" he asked as he carefully moved over to the swing and took a seat.

"Yes," she replied. "When I came here to get away from the village, Lady Tsunade had one of the ANBU help me build this house and build the stream. He never really said much to me other than he was taught by Kakashi Hatake, when the Sharingan user was in the ANBU."

"Kakashi?" The mention of his old student's name brought back some memories for him. "I can remember when Kakashi was just a young teen. He had a sour attitude but after Obito died, he did a complete turn around."

"Kakashi is a pervert," Selene continued. "Always reading Master Jiraiya's romance novels in public no less."

Minato quirked a brow. "Kakashi reads romance books? Never thought I'd see that. Is he still in ANBU?"

"No, he gave it up some time ago when I was still a Chunin. He enrolled himself to become a Genin Sensei and he's only ever had one Genin team. No one else has ever been able to pass his test, except for one."

"Which test is that?"

"Rumor has it, he'd use a bell test, said to have been used by his Sensei when he was young."

Minato smiled. "Sounds like we have the same Kakashi. I was Kakashi's teacher and I would use the bell test to help my students improve in their teamwork."

"Sounds like the Kakashi I know. He's extremely big on teamwork." She continued to weed her garden, ignoring the comment about Minato being Kakashi's teacher. She still didn't want to believe it.

For several minutes the two were quiet until he decided to bring up something else. "So why don't you live in the village?"

"Because I don't," she replied a bit abruptly, indicating she didn't want to talk about it.

Sensing he hit a nerve, he stood and walked back over to her. "Selene, you seem to be a kind person. I mean you're taking care of me, allowing me to sleep in your room while you're on the couch. I'm just wondering if there's anything I could do for you."

She stopped and looked at him. "No. Just you being alive, is good enough for me. I mean you're a Leaf ninja, one of my comrades. I don't like seeing my people suffer." She lowered her head. "When they do, I feel as though I've failed in some way."

"I already told you, you can't feel responsible for others when it's not your fault."

"And who says I can't? I mean if I let one of my comrades die, it's usually because of something I've done."

His eyes narrowed a bit. "Are you on stress leave?" he asked suddenly.

"I…" she stopped, turning her head back to the ground. Without a word, she crawled up onto her feet and began to make her way back to the house. "I should go and start on breakfast before it gets too late."

He wanted to stop her from moving away from him, but with his injury, he couldn't move as fast as he was used to abling for her to easily get away.

"You're hiding something Selene and I will find out what it is. I don't care what it takes but you will open up. I wasn't given the Hokage position to never care about those around me."

With his mind set, he carefully made his way back to the house on the intent to find out more about the woman he was staying with. His heart was still heavy from losing his wife, but he was a ninja and she wouldn't want him to mourn over her. She'd want him to hold his head up high and be there for their son. That's what she wanted in the first place when the two argued over who would seal the Nine Tails.


End file.
